European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 20, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday september 20, 1978 the stars and stripes Page 11 commanders assessment nato needs More new planes and Azacs by Drew mod Eton Ramstein West Germany not the shift in the balance of air Power in Central Europe towards the soviet Union and its Warsaw pact allies can be arrested by improvements in the Quantity of advanced Western planes and the introduction of sophisticated airborne warning and control is the View of commanders and staff officers Here at the Headquarters of Allied air forces Central Europe the major air command of the North Atlantic treaty air superiority which was taken As a matter of course until Early in this decade has been eroded seriously by improvements in the Quality and Quantity of the soviet East German and polish air counter this the West has introduced improvements in command and control systems that provide greater flexibility for air forces and a tactical air support system that works intimately with the two army groups facing the soviet ground forces in East Are obvious and admitted weak Nesses in the Allied air German air Force colonel watching four american f-4 phantoms take off in support of nato troops in the reformer exercise said we Are satisfied with the Quality of our aircraft what we need is More of soviet Union has deployed approximately 2,000 fighters fighter bombers and reconnaissance aircraft in Central Europe. Another 1,000 aircraft of similar types Are on airfields in the Western soviet Union. In addition the soviet frontal Avia Tion command has 500 medium bombers at its air forces Central Europe mus ters approximately 1,400 aircraft a total that includes All assigned and dual based forces. The latter includes the american and British fighters and fighter bomber available for service in Europe in the event of a crisis or capabilities have improved. The deployment in Europe of the air forces f-15 fighter and the expected deployment in the St is and filpes 5hud european edition col. Billy e. Spangler Usa editor in chief . . Usan Deputy editor in chief Mert Proctor a Nagin editor Elmer d. Frank production manager Henry circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication for . Armed forces overseas. The stars and stripes is put shed in conjunction with the armed forces information program of the department of defense. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official View of the . Government the department of defense or the . European command. The appearance of displays in this newspaper concerning commercial publications does not constitute an endorsement by the department of de sense including the military departments. Military address the stars and stripes Apo 09175. International mail the stars and stripes Postrach 11 10 34, d-6100 Darmstadt 11, Germany. Tel Griesheim c prefix 06155 811 m Darmstadt Airstrip prefix 2376 741, telex 0419-332. New York office room 948, 201 Varlock st., new York 10014, Tel area code 212 620-3333. Second class postage paid at new York . News bureaus Bremerhaven Germany Dan Synovec building 103, Carl Schurz Cavern Bremerhaven military 8659 or Bremerhaven Civ 0471 88782 Kaiserslautern get Many Floyd Harrington building 2897, Pulaski Barracks Vogel Weh military 6050 or Kaiserslautern Civ 0631 52104 Nuernberg Germany John Savard building 21, William o. 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The Early 1980 s of the British German Tor Nado and of the american f-16 Are expected to maintain the West s qualitative As air vice marshal sir Kenneth Kingshott pointed put the soviet s have introduced some highly sophisticated air Craft. The new fencer Su-19 carries twice the payload and has six times the Range of earlier soviet fighter bombers. The deployment in Eastern Europe of the backfire bomber the air marshal admitted gives it the capability of hitting peripheral targets. The judgment of senior air Force officers Here is that the deploy ment of the fencer and backfire open american and Royal air Force bases in Britain to Allied answer to the soviet Chal Lenge has taken two forms. The first an most Complex is an elaborate system to provide air support to the Western ground forces in a land 601st tactical control Wing the largest Wing in the air Force would suppl the commanders of the ground and air Force in Central Europe with air operation controllers and army air Liaison teams. The Wing occupies 56 Sites in West Ger Many and in an emergency would move it radar and communications teams to other Sites already target is intimate cooperation with army units Down to the battalion Levels. Under existing procedures the tac tical air control posts would report re quests for air support through Allied air forces Central Europe. This procedure would go All the Way Down to battalion two Man teams in this High risk assignment have a wide variety of communications and equipment to report Battle situations from the front lines. There i always of course the threat of soviet bombardment of Central control stations and of problem is that not All the present air control bunkers Are proof against soviet conventional or nuclear attack. The Rule of thumb followed by Allied officers is that if 30 percent of the command and control stations Are knocked out and 30 per cent of the remaining communications Are jammed by the russians you cannot fight a the system now operates it insures greater flexibility for air Power in War. Aircraft in the fourth Allied tactical air Force supporting the Southern group of armies could be diverted to support forces in the Northern group and the second Allied tactical air Force if a soviet inva Sion Force was making Progress in that area. The same diversion could be made i the russians were pushing Back Allied forces in the air Force officers american and Allied believe the present procedures would be effective in War. Their complaints that no matter How great the flexibility or the coordination of ground forces the still need More advanced aircraft to win the air Battles and provide the ground sup port they believe the land armies require. Record 200,000 crowd views Turin holy relic Turin Italy a a record crowd of 200,000 persons paid homage to the holy shroud in the Turin Cathedral sunday for total of More than 1.5 million visitors in the first 22 Days of Public View of the Linen venerated As Jesus Christ s burial reported they arrested several pickpockets in the crowd outside the Cathe holy shroud exhibition to celebrate the 400th anniversary of its Transfer to Turin from Chambery France lasts through oct.8. Letters to the editor european car shipper s ordeal this letter is for the Benefit of Ameri cans stationed in Germany who have thought of sending a Mercedes manufactured for the european Market Back to the have gone through an ordeal of Bureau Cracy that a sane Philadelphia lawyer would t tackle so my advice is Don t try it i bought my 1971 280 be in july 1974, which was Early in my tour in Germany. Thanks where due i truly sympathize with All the men inthe army who Are unknown and should be known to know the Hurt and disappointment you All feel deep Down inside and try to hide rom others. But i see deep in your eyes the Hurt you have from doing a Well done Job and no one says thank s such a Small but meaningful word to these men who try their Best and Theydon t get anything in return for this. I know because i see it in my husband s eyes fro time to time when he thinks i m not look have never seen so much Hurt on his face until recently when we were at Anco party. A lieutenant stood up to make a speech and spoke of my husband an himself and the Job they did. Then the lieu tenant said thank you to All the other men but not my husband. If Only you could have seen his face you would have cried like i wanted to do right there and Don t know Why these men have to go through needless disappointments when one Little word thanks would mean the whole world to these hurts me is seeing these men try ing Day after Day and year after year an finally they think they re not Worth any thing anymore and give can the wives of these men do after so Many years of saying Honey i m so very proud of you and wait a Little longer they la say they re proud of you eight years that Day still has t Man is human too. How Many heart aches can a Man take before he is completely destroyed what makes it so hard for these men is to see another Man who either does Little or nothing get thank you very much that was a Good Job you and Here sits Aman who has done More than the others and he does t even get a thank guess you either have to be Lazy have a big Mouth or be a know it All to get a thank guess that s Why the army loses so Many Good men. Why can t they give cred it where credit is due name withheld Mannheim Germany after numerous inquiries regarding modifications from the environmental Protection Agency Epa and the depart ment of transportation Dot officials and then discussing these fragmented instructions with those who hold themselves out to be in the know i decided to try expending much Money and time to change the lights reinstall windows an Glass Dull finish that was reflective change speedometer recalibrate the fuel injection pump and Many other minor modifications and getting documentary proof of these changes i shipped it very easily by paying the Normal shipping real problem came when . Cus Toms would t release the car at the state Side port without my posting Bond equivalent to value and my written Promise to bring it into conformance with the Ameri can prototype Model. All previous mentation meant first attempts to again gain technical guidance for modification met wit negative results. Even the product compliance division of Mercedes Benz of North America advised that they were unable to provide this a second inquiry they furnished me a copy of the technical manual concerning the emission control system. I then proceeded to a dealer to get this accomplished. The dealer ordered parts Esti mated labor and other items. The parts were received and installation began. But More problems the Mechanic failed to note that a fuel shut off solenoid could not be installed in the fuel injection pump. So another pump would be required at a Cost of $800-$900, plus a Tail Shaft hous ing and More. My response at this time was take the parts off and forget another inquiry to the Epa which informed me they had now received the modification instructions which were anew Cylinder head pistons crankshaft fuel evaporative system plus More. New estimate $3,500. Then came my decision to return it to its Home again was no problem just Normal shipping fees. The vehicle was con signed to a relative who attempted to get it through the German inspection for registration. Failure. The vehicle modifications thus far made must be american equivalent tires must be changed Back to Daimler Benz recommended tires. Then after approval of thetus we must satisfy the German customs officials regarding taxes and other item before getting a regular German License. How much did it Cost i Haven t kept track but phenomenal to say the least. My final advice is if you like it drive it there but leave it can have two to three american cars for what you la spend trying to keep it still standing a Good Chance of not satisfy ing one of the bureaucratic government agencies such As the Dot Epa or . More thing the car burned cleaner than most cars on the american freeway according to local testing. Testing under supervised Dyn Ometer testing conditions might have been different. That s about $800 plus a Chance of failure plus towing Toa recognized station for testing under Epa ordeal is finally Over after a year of hassle after hassle. Name withheld Rantoul Iii. Reminder All letters to the editor must contain full printed name and address of the writer and must be signed. Writers Are encouraged to include phone number and Economy address
